|
2026-11-02 Fifth Column
|
|
US charges 4 more defendants in conspiracy targeting Michigan university, Jewish community
|
[Jpost] The superseding indictment brings the total number of defendants charged in the federal investigation to 12, following an initial round of indictments that targeted eight individuals in June.
Federal prosecutors announced charges against four additional defendants on Friday in connection with a sprawling conspiracy involving threats, vandalism, and coordinated acts of intimidation targeting the Jewish Federation of Detroit, University of Michigan leadership, university law enforcement personnel, and local businesses.
According to federal indictments and investigative findings, the case stems from a sustained campaign of harassment and property destruction directed at university officials, two university regents, other university leadership, a university police lieutenant, a university student, and Jewish community organizations that escalated following the October 2023 conflict in the Middle East. Federal investigators stated that the conspiracy sought to pressure the University of Michigan into divesting its endowment from companies with perceived ties to Israel.
According to the US Attorney’s Office, the campaign involved incidents of high-profile vandalism and intimidation, including breaking windows, throwing glass jars filled with noxious chemicals into family homes, placing fake bloody corpses in a university board member’s yard, and spray-painting anti-Israel messages at the private residence of then-university president Santa Ono.
Investigators also detailed that the conspirators marked victims’ homes and workplaces with symbols associated with Hamas, including red handprints and red inverted triangles, a symbol used by Hamas to mark targets for death, and documented their attacks to share on social media alongside warnings of additional threats.
The superseding indictment brings the total number of defendants charged in the federal investigation to 12, following an initial round of indictments that targeted eight individuals in June. The newly charged individuals are Henry David MacKeen-Shapiro, 23, Aaron Hunter Vonbargen, 25, Joseph Mark Fisher, 23, and Srishti Tarana Sharma, 23. Authorities stated that two of the defendants were taken into custody while the remaining two individuals remained at large.
According to local media reporting by outlets such as The Detroit News and Fox 2 Detroit, the initial round of eight defendants indicted earlier in June previously entered pleas of not guilty. Legal representatives and defense advocates for pro-Palestinian activists have criticized the federal prosecutions, arguing in local coverage that the government’s approach seeks to criminalize student opposition and political speech regarding the conflict in Gaza.
# id) ?>
|
Posted by trailing wife 2026-11-02 2026-11-02 01:46||
E-Mail||
Front Page|| ||Comments
[6 views ]
Top
File under: Hamas
|
|
03:28 Super Hose
03:26 Super Hose
02:45 DooDahMan
02:41 DooDahMan
00:55 Skidmark
Merry-Go-Blog
|
